p^' 




Copyright 1912 by 
TiiF. Stamford Foundry Company 



/ 



©C1,A329866 



"We're the men who set on Georges, 
■"On the Channel and Cape Shore, 
"From the Virgins down to Cashes, 
"And the Peak to Labrador. 
"We're the seiners and the shackers, 
"And the fishermen that go 
"Atrawlin' on the Eastern Banks, 
"From Grand to Banquereau." 

— Tlie Song of the Fisliennen. 




ERXE rHlNXEY 




^\'I1"^LV the American 
fishing- schooner Col- 
umbia was making her 
]) a s s a g e, homeward 
bound from the Eas- 
tern Banks, for Glou- 
cester, for Jimmy 
Westhaver, the skip- 
per, was driving her. 
Drixing her in every 
sense of the word ; all four lowers spread to the northeaster 
howling- oxer the starboard quarter and her bowsprit looking 
u\) for the twin lights when it wasn't looking for the bottom 
of the Gulf of Maine. 

The gang, excepting the two on deck — one to the wheel, 
the other to look out — were enjoying a "lay-ofT" after weeks 
of hard fishing; and with two thousand quintals in the hold, 
the skipper did not believe in loafing on the passage while 
Gloucester market was waiting for their catch. 

It was a wild night, cold, blowing hard, but clear. Just 
the kind of weather for making a grand shoot for home, and 
the men, as they la/ded the evening awa}' in their bunks, lis- 
tened with keen a])preciation to the muttering roar of the bow 
wa\-e careering past them, with only the scant thickness of 
the planking between them and it. 

It was a night for the bunk; for the comfort of bootless 
stockinged feet, slackened belts and a warm blanket : and with 
pil)es aglow, the crowd lay jammed in their narrow bedplaces, 
while every timber, ])lank and stanchion in the big semi- 



"DOUGHNUT" ROBBINS'S BET 



kiiockalx >ul schooner creaked and ^f^roaned witli the i)ressure 
of tile canxas she was hi.i;,!L;in|L;- along. 

1-j-ne IMiinney, the cook — a jolly, ruddy faced man of 
about forty-five, and reputed to be the best cook out of Glou- 
cester — found it precarious work hanging- on to the weather 
lockers, so he slid gracefully dow^n to leeward and scjuatted 
down alongside old Jerry Da\is, w ho was trying to read "Lady 
Audley's Secret" b}- the light of a candle in a sticking-tommy 
placed perilously close to his head. 

"Ski])per's puttin' it to her, Jerry," remarked the cook as 
the vessel dived into a comber and the forecastle re\'erberated 
to its thunderous crash on the deck above. "I cal'late we 
cughter swing around Ten Pound Island by noon tomorrow. 
She's been dustin' at some clip ever since w^e swung off, and il 
lie carries this breeze to the Cajjc, lu-'ll make a record. W'liat 
d'ye think, Jerrv?" 

Jerry laid down the novel and extinguished the candle 
before re])lying. Jerry and the cook were the two oracles of 
the forecastle — the former l)eing the oldest fisherman al)oard. 
and the latter the C(^)ok, and cook on a fisherman is second in 
importance only to the Presidency of the United States. 

"Yep!" answered Jerry. "She's agoin' some — jest listen 
to that breeeze, fellers! He's got every chanst to make a pas- 
sage in this craft, new, well-found, good gear; but, Pord save 
ye! he'll go some to ])eat the tri]) Tom Robbins nuule in the 
old BstJicr SuUivaii years agone. D'ye remember that, cook?" 

'Ihe cook smiled reminiscently. "Do T remember it? 
Gripes! I should rather ihink 1 did. Warn't T the first man 
to ship with Tom Rol)bins when he bought that old Siillhaii, 
and didn't I stick with him in all the high line lri])s he made in 
lier up to the time he left Gloucester and went out halibuttin' 
-on the I'acific Goast? And 1 can remember that particular 



"DOUGHNUT" ROBBINS'S BET 



trip all ri^ht. for 'twas me that had a hand in niakin' him drive 
the Siilli-i'cni the way he did. Money and his stomaeh was the 
only two thinij;s Tom Roljbins had any respect for, aye, dollars 
and i^Tub, for pride he had none. I drove Robbins and Robbins 
dro\-e the vessel — " 

"How^ was that, Erne?" interrupted Davis. "Sure I al- 
ways understood he was out to trim Jason Churchill wdiat had 
the Rose L. Piillcii. Them two were always at loggerheads, I 
heard." 

Phinnev reached for a match, "'idiey was an' yet they 
wasn't. Jerry, for Rol)bins never cared enough about anybody 
to pick a quarrel. r)Ut it's a kinder roundabout yarn and one 
that 'ud take (|uite a bit of explainin' to make things clear — " 

"Vou got ])leutv o' time, Erne," sung out a voice from the 
peak. "Xo hshin" tomorrow y' know, and there ain't no call 
for vou to turn out early. I'd like to hear somethin' about 
that tri]) and Tom Robbins — 'Doughnut' Robbins they useter 
call him, didn't the_\', Erne?" 

"\'cp!" replied the cook with a smile on his rudd}- features. 
"And did ye ever hear how he got the name? Xo? Well, I 
cal'late I'd better gi\'e you the ^\•hole yarn. C'tit me a hll from 
that plug of yoiu-'n, Jake, and after two draws and a s])it, Ell 
fill away. So !" 

With his ru])iciuid face glowing through the halo of blue 
tobacco smoke like the sun in a Bank fog, the cook began. 

"Tt was a good many }ears ago when I first met Tom 
l\ol)l)ins. I was cookin' in the Prcsidciif Ifarrisoii — an ol' 
Provincetown tooth])ick — when this Robbins blew into Glou- 
cester with a btuich of Xewf'nlanders in a bait \essel. and he 
shipped with our ski])])er in the I larriscn for the winter tishin'. 

"It was aboard the Harrison he got the name of "Dough- 
nut" Robbins. He'd never seen a doughnut afore, and when 



"DOUGHNUT" ROBBINS'S BET 



I had placed a plate of them on the table, he starts in peelin' 
the skin off it jest as if it was a ])otato. By the Great Trawl 
Hook! didn't the gang- laugh! lint they couldn't ji'Hy him 
nohow for he was as tough and as thick-skinned as a l)luc'-dog. 
and mean — Lord save ye, but he was mean! Money jest nat- 
urally stuck to him, and ye couldn't pry him loose from a dol- 
lar with the boom tayckle and all hands to the fall. 

"He'd mess around with old g'ear that was f()re\ er ])ari- 
in' on him and the best j)art of his time he was nosin' around 
lookin' for bargains. There was no fisherman in (Gloucester 
that could fit out as cheap as Tom Robbins and u]) t(T his 
boardin' house he had a reg'lar junk sho]) of trawl tubs, odd 
shots of trawl, buoys, gurdys, and sichlike, which he peddled 
to the boys when he was ashore. 

"Didn't he git a grab on every trawl kag in Gloucester 
once? Fittin' out time and most gangs riggin' new gear and 
not a trawl buoy to be had except from Tom Robbins, and 
him chargin' three times what they wuz worth ! Oh, but he 
was a financeer was Tom, and it warn't long afore the boys 
quit callin' him 'Doughnut', b-f ye did, he'd pull out a roll of 
bills as thick round as a fishin' hawser and tell ye them was 
the peelin's. 'Yes!' he would say. 'I useter i)cel my dough- 
nuts, and them's the peelin's !' " 

The cook paused in his narrative and glanced over the 
interested faces peering over the bunk rising- boards. 

"Aye," he continued. "It didn't take l\ob])ins long to 
make enough money to buy a vessel. He wouldn't go shares 
with nobody but jest bought the old Esther SuUivaii for about 
three thousand dollars and took her out salt tisliin' withouL 
givin' her a lick of paint or an o\crhaul. and licr lyin' to the 
wharf for a vear afore he bought her. 




The cook paused in his narrative and glanced over the interested faces 
peering over the bunk rising boards. 



lO "DOUGHNUT" ROBBINS'S BET 



that. I was supposed to git cups, plates, knives, forks, spunes. 
kittles, pots, lamps, bakin' board and enough fittin's to purvide 
for eighteen men. 

"Five dollars, by Heck! That was too strong for me, sa 
I gu\' him his money back and told him I wouldn't ship with 
a skipper thai wouldn't ])ur\i(le the necessities of life. 

"\\'hat did he do? A\'hy, jest pockets the money, and after 
tellin' me 'twill be all right, he comes aboard later with a 
bunch of junk he'd got for two dollars from the old /:. S. Birt- 
zvell what was laid up. 

"'I've jest saved three dollars by doin' my own buyin',' 
he says, and he was as ])leased o\er it as a T Wharf shark 
what has sold a ]>air of imitation rubber boots to a fisherman. 
Lord, but he was mean ! 

"Well, out to sea we swings, and a more sorrowful set of 
tags on a vessel never disgraced the port of Gloucester, ller 
mains'l was like a Noo Bedford whaleman's shirt — a ])atch on 
a patch and a ])atch overall — while 'twas only a young and 
actix'e man that could go aloft for she hadn't a whole ratlin 
left on eitlicr fore or main riggin'. 

"I'>ul we got fisli ! "S^es, fellers; as soou as we made tlie- 
grounds. 'DonglnuU" liad the dories over and ne\'er let u]) onlil 
the bait was done and the salt wetted. Then around Eastern 
P'int we comes pokin' (»ne blowy day and surj)rised the natives 
— a dirt}-. disre])Utable old scliooner. but with an e\erlastin'ly 
good tri]) below decks. 

"After that, we made two crackin' gi^od trips — another 
salt tishiu" and a winter hadilickiu' — what made some of the 
old timers open their eyes when l\o])l)ins hailed his fare; and 
e\en to the low dory, our fellers ilrawed liighdine shares out 
of her stocks. 



'DOUGHNUT'- ROBBIXS'S BET II 



"Tliis liclj)cd to make Robbins's name, but ye sh'd have 
seen the vessel. Hoys! oh, boys! but she looked a sight to 
everyone but the skipjjer. lie didn't cave two straws for the 
vessel's a])]:iearance as long as he could catch hsh, and he was 
the boy to catch 'em. 

"We started fit tin' out then for a spring halibuttin' trip 
to the eastward — that is to say the gang were doin' the fittin' 
out, not Robbins. All as he did in that line was to give the 
Sulii-raii's hull a lick of coal dust and kerosene, send up his 
topmasts, and reeve ofif a new mainsheet. 

" 'Ah !' says he after reevin' off that sheet, 'she's all ready 
for the summer now. The next thing is to git to sea and pay 
for her overhaul.' 

"Then some of the boys went up and asked him ef he in- 
tended to git new dories. 'Xew dories !' he yells. 'An' what 
in the ruddv Hades is the matter with the ones ye've got?' 

" 'Matter?' answers Jesse Publicover — him that's skipper 
of the Hood now. 'Jes listen to him boys I Why the blame' 
bottoms in them arc worn thin as a shingle. Sure, I kin stick 
my fork clean through ivery time I'm pitchin' fish, and I'm 
alius afraid some ruddy halibut'll llap extra hard with his tail 
and send us all into ihe drink — they're so thin. 'Sides that, 
they're leaky and need bailin' all the time to keep 'em afloat, 
and the gunnels are so shaky that I'm afraid to pull hard for 
fear I should yank 'em clean off, an' yank 'em off we will 
when we start gurdyin' hallibut. 'Tis fine they'd look as 
flower beds or lobster cars, but as dories for fishin' in, they 
ain't w'uth an orner}- damn !' 

''Did tliev git 'em?' Xot on your life! 'Tis easy ye'll 
have to go in 'em,' says Kobbius. '^'ou fellers abuse 'em. 
Idiev ain't iron-clads. Go easy in 'em, and Til maybe git a 
new set in the fall.' 



12 'DOUGHxXUT" ROBBINS'S BET 

"'I'hat's all the satisfaction they got from him, and then 1 
broaches the ([nestion of a new stove. 

" 'I can't cook decently on that bunch of junk below there,' 
says 1. 'and a new stove I must have. Let me go up to the 
store and order a SHIPMATE afore we swing out. Let's git 
3 Stove ef we git nawthin' else.' 

"It would ha\e brung tears to your eyes to have h'ard 
the way 1 begged him to let me git what I wanted, but it was 
no use. 

" 'Erne.' says he. '1 ain't got no fault to find with your 
•cookin'. \\'hen I don't like your grub, Fll maybe see about 
gittin' a new stove then. Ye have my permission to buy a 
little wire ef it wants fixin'.' And with that he walks away. 

"it was jest about this time that Jason Chtirchill come out 
with the knockabout Rose L. PuUcn. Jason come from the 
same place as Tom Robbins and the two of 'em were always 
at loggerheads with each other, tho' I don't know why. Maybe 
it was jest because they came from the same village, but any- 
ways Rol)bins had no use for Churchill and Churchill had less 
for Robbins. 

"The Pullcii A\as a mighty fine big craft — a new style 
knockabout: no bowsprit, and a ^vhale of a fo'c'sle — 'sides 
what she was well rigged and geared comjiared with our old 
toothi)ick. 

"While ^ve were fittin' out she lay acrc^st the dock from 
us gittin' ready for a trip same as us, and Churchill use to git 
our ski])])er mad by walkin' his vessel's quarter and passin' 
remarks about the Siillifdii to his gang. 

" 'D'ye see that old wrack acrcxst the dock?' he'd sing out, 
loud enough for all (lloucester to hear. 'They sav her skip- 
])cr's agoin" to hire her out as a }'acht to I'.oston folks. Ain't 
she an object? Looks like I'om Robbius- dirty as a pig on 



"DOUGHNUT" ROBBINS'S BET 



13 



a niiul flat — and he's been so busy ])eelin' doughnuts and things 
that he's takin' to scrapin" the paint off his ohl hooker's top- 
sides to number his high-flyers with. 

"'Some craft, f)o_vs ! Leaks like a l)asket, I'm told, and 
sails like a house — all drift and leeway, 'sides takin' an hour to 
come about. Ain't she a curiosity?' 

"And so on and so forth, while Robl)ins "ud be stampin' 
.and grindin' his teeth. Churchill seemed to be the only man 
that could raise Tom's dander; and after a broadside the skip- 
jjer 'ud stamp down into the cabin and curse Jason from Sou'- 
west Harbor to Fulton Market. 

" 'I'll git him some day,' he would say, 'an when I do. 
I'll skin him to the ballast. I'll fetch him up all standin' some 
•of these fine days, and by Godfrey! I'll take pleasure in peelin' 
the hide off'n him !' 

"Well, (lur crowd got their skates of halibut gear ganjed 
and hooks seized on. and with our ice and bait aboard we 
swung' out for the Cape Sable and La Have grounds followin" 
the Rose L. Piillcii which left two days afore us. ^^"e had a 
dead beat u]) to the Cully and on the run off' to the grounds 
our fellers got i)lenty of chanst to think cner things in genera! 
-and soon they scared up a kinder grouch on the skipi)er 'count 
of his stinginess. 

"^iliev chewed the rag over the old dories ; they passes re- 
marks on the sails and the gear, and when the gang turned out 
to jig u]) they'd lay all ihcir weight du the halliard and when 
it parted they'd curse and rip around like fishermen do when 
there ain't no fishin'. Skipper doesn't care a hoot but lets them 
talk all tlic\- had a mind to, and if the}- bust the gear, they'd 
have to repair it, not him. 

" 'I'll worry the old tightw ad,' says Publicover. Her gear 
is jest about on the last tack, and some fine da}- when it's my 



14 



"DOUGHNUT" ROBBINS'S BET 



trick I'll jibe her over and fetch everythin' down by the run. 
See ef I don't !' 

"All this time I was ha\'in' a holy session with that old 
scrap pile of a stove, for it took most of my time tinkerin' and 
coaxin' it to cook anythin', but while I was messin' around 
with it, I has an idee. I never said nawthin' to nobody about 
it, for idees are best worked out by the man wdiat has them, 
and as mine spelt trouble for all hands as well as the skipper, 
I jest worries around until we made our first berth some 
twenty-five miles to the s'uth'ard of Cai)e Sable. 

"Soon as he made the ground, Robbins had the gang bait- 
in' up and the set made, and I got busy on my own hook, so 
when the crowd comes aboard for dinner after gurdyin' away 
on halibut gear snarled up on hard bottom all mornin' I had 
a dinner ready what wasn't fit for a dog to eat. I had some 
clam chowder which I managed to scorch nicely; then some 
b'ilcd salt beef jest warm and no more and 'bout as tough as 
a lignum vitac bulls-eye, and with a pot full of smoky, burnt 
tapioca, some soggy ginger cake and sour bread, I jest had 
that crowd rippin' and tearin' around somethin' sinful — skip- 
|)er and all. 

" '\\'hat's the trouble, cook?' says he to me. 'Ain't vou 
feelin' well?' 

" 'I'm well enough,' says I. 

" AW^ll.' he sputters, for he was kinder 'fraid to comj)lain. 
'How did ye come to dish up sich a mess of burnt, g-oozy grut) 
as this?' 

" 'I'is me that'll ask you a question,' says T, 'for how d'ye 
expect mc to cook anythin' on a heap of ballast iron held to- 
gether with hay wire. 'Tis on its last legs, and was, years 
agone, an' didn't I ask vou for a new one in Gloucester afore 
we left?' 



"DOUGHNUT" ROBBINS'S BET 15 

"To tliis he L;i\cs no answer — jest looks at the stove and 
chnihs u]) on deck. Then I turns round and gives the g'ang a 
wink. Tf any of }-ouse is hungry,' I says, 'ye'll find a mug-u]:) 
in the lldur cu])l)iiard: not the shack locker, y'understand, but 
the store cu])l)oard. The shack locker grub is for the skipi)er's 
niug-u])S, and don't none of youse ])ut him he]:) to my game or 
by the Great Trawl Hook! I'll put i)oison in \-our soup ef 
you do !' 

"Of course when the gang got wise they started a little 
game on their own end of the line and they cert'nly ])laye(l 
hell with Tom I\ol)bins that afternoon. They kept him chasin" 
after them all o\er the grotmds — the gear was forever ])artin' 
they said — and Robbins was beginnin' to think there was an 
■everlastin'ly hard tide runnin' below the surface as he towed 
dory after dory up to their buoy's. 

"It was jest comin' on dark when he started in ])ickin" the 
dories u]). and as we carried no spare hand. I had to be on deck 
to catch the dory painters, and believe me, I never had so 
much fun in all my life. There was jest a nice little westerly 
breeze ablowin" with a little jobble of sea and that crowd 
made ha}- of the skipper's dories. 

"Tom Killam and George Hood in number one dory came 
alongside first; ho\e out their skates of gear, the buoys and 
the gurd}', and then the two of them gives an extry hard stamp 
of their feet on the bottom boards and she filled to the gunnels, 
'idle two dorymates jumped lor the rail as she went under and 
a fine doryload of prime halibut goes sli])])in' into the sea again 
wdiile the skipper was ahowdin' for to git her on the tackles as 
he jabbed at the siid<in' halibut with the long gait. 

"Somehow or other" — and the cooked smiled meaningly — 
""that dory painter ])arted and while the old man was ri])])in' 



l6 'DOUGHNUT" ROBBIXS'S BET 

out North Shore prayers on us, there come a yell from for'ard 
--the vessel was jest fillin' away again with no one to the 
wheel — and the first thing- we seed was Jesse Publicover and 
his dorvmale ascramblin' over the bows. Jesse comes tearin' 
aft to the ski])i)er lookin' as savage as a bear. 'This is a nice 
thing!' he roars at Robbins. 'Go and run me down! Try and 
drownd me and Jack there, and us bin ayellin' at ye and dodg^- 
in' ye all o^■cr the Idasted Rank as ye come slammin' at us hell- 
to-split and drive us under. Run our dory inter chopsticks 
with yer carelessness and lose all our gear and fittings 'sides 
as fine a haul of halibut as ever corned ofl:' this bottom !' 

"Sure enough, we looks over the stern and there was 
Jesse's broken dory and his trawl buoys floating- away, and for 
five minutes Tom Robbins had to listen to the rough side of 
Jesse's tongue without bein' aide to say a word. 

"^^^ell, fellers, we sure badgered Tom Robbins that night. 
The l)oys 'ud come rearin' down agin the schooner's hull and 
then wlien half their fish had Idn pitched out they'd kick out 
the i)lug and jum]) for the rail as the dory started to fill. 'Look 
how l)ad slic's leakin', skipper,' they'd say, and Robbins, 
unable to see the drawed plug under the fish would yell for 
the dory to be lioisted aboard before it sunk. 

''Two dories with gunnels stove, one sunk and one run 
down was the bill for that night, and it was all done apurpose, 
even to Jesse Publicoxer runnin' under her l)ows to git his 
dory smashed up. 

"I'hen I had a sup])er ready that 'ud make a shark snifif. 
A half baked halil)Ut swininiin' in the rancidest Ijutter I could 
git — lead line arming it was; half boiled potatoes, smoky tea 
and doughy biscuits jest 'bout got Rol)])ins goin' and the wa\- 
the gang carried on was a terror. 



"DOUGHNUT" ROBBINS'S BET 17 

"We cal'lated the skipper would gh kinder fed up with 
Ihin.^s and l)e for swingin' her off for Gloucester, but he warn't 
the kind to give u]) in a hurry. 'There's four dories left,' says 
he, 'and this craft will make a trip even with four dories. 
Youse fellers kin g'o four to a dory — two kin bait up and over- 
haul gear aboard, and other two kin make the set.' 

"And this was how he kept 'em agoin' all next day, and 
ss it was a'most a flat ca'm, there was no chanst for smashin' 
dories, so we gits quite a little deck of fish, much to the an- 
noyance of the gang. 

" 'Twas me that got in the fine work, fellers, even tho' 
I had to work double tides to do it. For every dish I sp'iled, 
I had to make a good one to put in the flour cupboard for the 
boys, and I want to tell ye, the skipper got his fill of half- 
cooked and burnt vittles them days and it was makin' him 
sick. And the boys didn't spare his feelin's any by the way 
they talked about the way the food was served. 

" 'Infernal shame.' they says, 'that we have to eat sich 
truck. Erne Phinney is a good cook — as good as any out of 
Gloucester — but what kin he do with sich a hunk of junk as 
he's got for a stove. And 'tis all the ski])])er's fault, lie won't 
git anythin' in the way of new gear. Look at the dories we 
got! Look at the outrajious fittin's on this hooker! Sails 
ain't w'uth a damn and liable to blow away in anythin' of a 
breeze ; ropes all ready to ])art as soon as ye lay an_\- weight on 
them—' 

"'Yes,' savs Jesse Publicover. 'l^hcre's Jason C'liurchib 
dfiwn to loo'ard there alaughin' at us. I was atalkin' to one of 
his crowd when we was out in the dories today and he said 
that Jason A\as agoin' to send the derelict destroyer out Iiere 
to remove the llsthcr Sullivan as bein' a menace to navigation. 
Said this here ]ieddler reminded him of the 'Flyin' Dutchman' 



"DOUGHNUT" ROBBINS'S BET 



— she was so old lookin" and it was a wonder to him how she 
e\-er mana.qed to fetch ( ilducester with sich old rags for sails. 

■■l\()l)l)ins was standin' l)y the fo'c'sle scuttle wdien Jesse- 
was atalkin' and he must have h'ard e\ery word of what he 
said, for wdien he comes down the ladder for sui')])er he asks 
Jesse when the PtiUcn was swingin' ofif. 

" 'Tomorrer. I cal'late.' answers Jesse. 'One of her crowd 
tdld me she'd used u]) all her ice and bait.' 

"The skipper said nawthin' but deals himself out a plate- 
ful (if l)()iled rice, tastes it. and shoves it away wdth a curse- 
wliile the gang nearly exploded laughin', for I excelled my- 
self on that rice — boilin' it in salt water and burnin' it nicely. 
'Idien he gra1)S a ddughnut, feels it. and lays it down; then a 
hunk of bread, sniffs at it. and heaves it back — it was good and 
doughy and sour, believe me — and he gits u]) from the table 
and stam])s aft while the boys near busts laughin' at him. 
It was too funny for anythin' to see the look he shot at ])Oor, 
innercent me, alius busy tinkerin' with the stove when he was 
'round. 

"Drawin' away on his jumbo he sneaks down to h^o'ard 
where the Rose L. PuUcu was dressin' down her catch. There 
was a good breeze al)lowin' and the baroiueter was agoin' 
down for more, as under i)ur four lowers we swings around 
the Piillcii's stern. 

"'Ilullol" yells ("hurchill as we swings l)y him. 'Still 
afloat with that old wrack? Come up, fellers, and see Xoah's 
Ark, Ararat for orders, and with old Noah to the wheel there!' 

"His gang knocks off to have a laugh at us. and we could 
see Robbin's face as black as a thunder cloud, lie throws the 
vessel up for a minute and sings out. '.^he's an old wrack, is 
she? d'hen what odds will ye give me on a hook from here 
to Kastern P'int?' 




'—they'd kick out the plug and jump for the rail as the dory started 

to fill." 



"DOUGHNUT" ROBBINS'S BET 19 

"Go 'way/ shouts Churchill. 'Tis like takin' candy from a 
kitl, but I'll take a hundred dollars off'n you with ])leasurc.' 

" 'A hundred dollars be damned !' says Robbins. 'What's 
a hundred dollars to me ! Suppose you make it five hundred, 
eh? Will you put up five hundred on yer vessel? I got that 
much anyhow to put up on this old wrack as ye call it — ' 

"'Five hundred!' yells Jason. 'D'ye mean to say ye'll 
risk fi\c hundred dollars with me on a race in that old tub?' 

" 'That's what I said,' answers Tom. 'Maybe ye'd be for 
raisin' it a little? Say a thousand? ITow about it?' 

" 'This was too much for Churchill, who thought Robbins 
was gone crazy, and he wasn't the only one that thought so, 
for sure the crowd of us were of the same notion. 

" 'Xo,' says Jason. 'T cal'late five hundred'll satisfy me. 
T don't want to lilxd that old hooker for payment. AMien d'ye 
swing- oft?' 

" 'Xow.' replies Robbins 'I'm all ready.' 

" 'l^hen go to it!' yells Churchill, and soon he was holler- 
in' to his gang to git the light sails set — " 

"Why. Tom Robbins must ha' had a lot of confidence in 
his old \esscl t' take on a bet like that," interrupted a man on 
the lee locker. "Was she much of a sailer. Erne?" 

'"Yes," ansAvered the cook, ".^he could sail all right tho' 
Tom Rol)l)ins hadn't done much crackin' on in her afore. He 
was so careful of the gear in our run-ofTs that he wouldn't drive 
her. and comin' home we Avcre gen'ly so deep that she could 
only make ordinar' sailin' of it. but she had a good sharp hull 
on her and ])urty fine lines — jest as good as the PiiUcii tho' she 
was an older vessel." 

Here the cook paused to refill his i)i])e and the eager faces 
peering over the bunk l)oards waited imjiatienlly for the con- 
tinuation of the narratixe. 



20 'DOaGHXUT" RORBINS'S BET 



"Well, as I was asayin'. the PuUcn swings ofif and Rob- 
l)ins calls the gang- aft. 'Ye heard me. I cal'late.' says he. 
*Xow git your halldon and stays'l set. Give her the main- 
tops'l. Jig nj) everythin', and take a i)nll on that niainsheet 
liere ! I'm agoin' to trim that big nKUithed ballast fish afore 
he's a year older. Swing her off fur Gloucester! \\'est by 
no'the and nawthin' to!' And round goes the old Sullivan 
buckin' in to her long' two hundred and twenty-five mile 
stretch for Eastern P'int with the wind out of the no'th'ard 
and breezin' up. 

"We rouses out the stays"! and ball('*on out of the box, 
Ix-nds them on and sends them u]), and after sheetin' dowMi, 
away goes our old hooker poundin' hot-foot after the PiiUcn 
half a mile ahead of us and hoofin' it for all he was worth. 
Then it comes on thick and we lose him in the blackness of 
it, for it got so dark we couldn't see him. He couldn't see our 
sidelights 'cause the ski])per wouldn't let me put them up. 'I 
ain't agoin' to show that joker where I am,' savs he. 'Jest 
keep 'em hand}- for showin' in case ve sights another \essel. 
iuid keep a (kiuble look-out for'ard !' 

"By the Lord Harry, l)0}-s, that was a night and no mis- 
take. He had no need to tell us to keej) a good look-out for'ard 
tor nearly every mother's son of us kei)t the deck, too scared 
to stay below for fear she'd run herself under or be run into bv 
another \essel, and the \\-ay that old toothpick stom])ed, 
r'ared, and rii)])ed along, was a fright. The breeze stifi^ened 
into a pro])er buster and had the old SiilliTiin draggin' her lee 
rail through it at a twelve knot gait. Robbins stagg'ers along 
the weather (piarter. s(piintin' into the binnacle and uj) at 
the sails and snitfin' at the breeze. Lord llarr\! I fanc}' ] 
kin see him yet — pacin' the deck with his hands in his ])ockets 
jinglin' some coppers; his shoulders hunched u]). and the red 



'DOUGHNUT" ROBBINS'S BET 21 

nose and whiskers of liini stickin' out from under the fore- 
thatch of a winter trawler's hat like the tusks of a wahnis I 
once seed up the Labrador! 

"P)}' midnis^ht she was luggin' more than she could carry 
and the wind was comin' away squally, and wdien she got the 
puffs she jest laid down to them until the main hatch went 
half under and everythin' fetched to loo'ard that wasn't rivited 
to the hull. 

''Didn't the boys have a session? He had Publicover to 
the wheel for two hours and ]M-etty nigh scared him stifif. 
■'Don't you dare let her come up in them i^uft's.' the skii)])er 
told him. ' 'Tis the puffs wdiat helps her along.' 

"'Put she ain't got no stiff'ness,' says Jesse. 'There's 
nawthin" in her hold — ' 

" '.\n emi)ty hold is good racin' trim !' answers Robbins. 
'both for vessels and men. Sure'n I haven't had a square meal 
sence we made the grounds and wdien I go in trainin' like that 
I'm a fair de\il for carr^dn' on. Keep her off' now — she'll stand 
it I' And when he says this, she rolls down until the lightboard 
in the Ice riggin' goes under and all the gear is washed out of 
the to]) dor}- on the lee nest. 

"That little roll-down took the maintops'!, for in a second 
after she s])lit, and there was nawthin' but the boltropes left 
to clew up. l'"rom then until daylight, the gang had their work 
cut out for them ])atchin' up the gear as it i)arted. Everythin' 
bust but that new mainsheet. First goes the lee balloon sheet, 
and down the sail has to come until a new one is bent on. 
Then the stays'l catches a jniff and snaj^s the pin what the 
sheet is belaved to. and when Robbins brings her to the wind, 
there was the gang up in the lee riggin" clawin' awa}- at thac 
sheet awhi])pin' around in the darkness and threalenin' to flick 
someone o\-er the side. 



22 'DOUGHNUT" ROBBINS'S BET 



"'I'he forcshcct was the next to git adrift, and when it 
went tlie ])nnm jest slintcred the lee nest of dories inter 
kindlin', and willi the l)an,<4in' and flappin' of the fores'l, the 
peak haUiard parts and there was hell to pay for a good quarter 
of an hour until they got it secured and the sheet rove ofif, end 
for end, afresh. 

"Long about tliree in the mornin', the skipper comes be- 
low for a mug-U]), and T own I felt kinder sorry for him when 
I sees him diggin' inter a mess of cold, 1)urnt l)eans and a 
hunk of scmr dough. I had some coffee too, made especially 
for him, and stewed till ye could ha' used it for ink. He fin- 
ished a plateful of l)eans and a cuj) of coff'ee, and tlien looks 
over at me with the nuig of him redder'n a b'iled lobster. 'By 
God, cook.' says he. 'The sooner we git to Gloucester, the bet- 
ter f(ir all hands. T\e eaten belter truck with a North Shore 
live-}erc in starvation time — ' 

"Pis the stove, skipper,' I says gently. 'Didn't I ask 
ye for a decent stove afore we left?' 

" 'I I ell !' he says, and then stamps on deck. 

"It was jest a1)out breakin' daylight when she wlii])s the 
two t()i)masts right out of her — snapped oft' jest al)ove the 
mastheads in a strong ])uft', and down conies the balloon and 
sta}'s'1 in among the gear. The skip]ier had the Avheel himself 
then, and it was liim what jum])ed tlie broomsticks out of her, 
and he laughs, 3-es, laughs like a schoollx^y, when he saw them 
go, and there was the g'ang peekin' at him as if they thought 
he was crazy. 'Clear away that raffle !' he sings out. 'She's 
in A\-inter rig now and will stand auAtbin'. Save the gear and 
sails, fellers. lhe)'re all right !' 

" 'Sa\e them and ])e gol darned!' sa}s ['ul)lico\er, as he 
crawled out on the bfnvsprit to rescue the balloon. '(■liiume a 
knife I' he savs, and he cuts it adrift. 



"DOUGHNUT" ROBBINS'S BET 



23 



"'J'hc ski])])er nuisl ha" seen him from aft, for he gives the 
wheel a wrench to starboard and drives her nose into it and 
Jesse and the crowd on the bowsprit went under. 

"Holy ]^Iackeral ! Ye should ha' h'ard Jesse swearin' 
when he came aft! 'Did \c saxe ni}- l)alloou?' asks the skip- 
per. 'Xaw,' answers Jesse, all drippin' wet. 'The blame thing 
was l)lown out of our hands afore we had a chanst.' 

"Robbins jest gives a grunt at this, and asks Jesse to re- 
lie\-e the wheel. 'Take it, Jesse, and keep her full an 1 bye. 
She's ala\in' her course and don't you dare let her come up 
r.ny !' 

" 'But ]'m all soakin' wet,' says Jesse. 

" 'That's nawthin', boy,' says the skipper. 'You ain't the 
only one that'll be wet afore this day's over. A little sjiell 
to the wheel'll dry ye out, man.' And poor PublicoN-er had 
to take a mighty long and tough trick, for the others were too 
scared to take the wheel in sich a breeze and sea. 

"\\"hen it come full daylight there was no sign of the 
Piillcii. and not another craft did we see but a big luni]) of a 
Dago salt bark standin" in for Gloucester and shortened down 
to his lower tops'ls. It was blovvin' stiff then, and the old .9;^/ 
In-an was jest scoopin' seas aboard and jumiMu" about so nmch 
that ye could a'most feel her keel twistin' e\-er}- time she 
bucked a grayback. 

"The skij^per was right about gettin' the gang wet, for 
he drenched them all afore noon — she was jest like a half-tide 
rock — and when we made to the sout h'ard of Cashes, her rot- 
ten old mains'l started rippin', an' the first thing we knowed, 
it had gone into tatters. A\'e roused the ridin' sail out of the 
kid and bent it on while she was holding her course, and after 
gittin' things squared up, she ships a sea what drives the chain 
box up agin the weather dories. Them dories jest naturallv 



24 



'DOUGHNUT" ROBBINS'S BET 



leaves tlic ^riix-'s and chocks and C(jnies aft — jest niissin" the 
skipper at the wheel as they sweeps over the quarter — and 
him a'most up to his neck in water awatchin' them go, and the 
gang" hangin' to the mainlxiom. 

" "We'll ha\e to git new dories now,' he says to the crowd, 
but the}- were too scared to laugh, and let me tell you it took 
a whale of a lot to scare that crowd. 

"I ne\er done no cookin' that day. Nawthin' could be 
done wilh the \essel r'arin', pounclin". and flingin' herself 
about, and a wild, cold, miserable day the boys put in. The 
cal)in was swillin' with water — the skylight was smashed in — - 
and the fo'c'sle leaked like a basket so that every time she 
shipped a sea it "ud come streamin' down the scuttle, the ven- 
tilator, and down the foremast and pawlpost. Yes! she was a 
miserable tub '\\dien she was bein' driven! 

"Long about se\en in the mornin' we took a sound and 
made the seventy-five fathoms to the south'ard of Fipennies — 
she was rippin' along like a liner then under ridin' sail, fore- 
sail and jumbo with the crowd of us tryin' to keep a fire goin' 
in the cabin stove — and at half past eleven we had Cape Ann 
abeam. That was some clip for a vessel under that canvas — 
fifty-seven miles in four and a half hours! But Lord, boys, 
it was blowiiT strong enough to l)low the teeth down your 
throat ef you s])at to wind'ard that day. 

"Twenty minutes or so later we hauled around Eastern 
T^'int with the crowd of us lookin' to see if the PiiUcii had luan- 
aged to git in before us. 

"'She ain't there, fellers,' says Robbins (juite cool. 'Don't 
worry. That \'\\q hundred is mine!' 

"The cock-sureness of him fair took the gang scpiare amid- 
ships, and 'twasn't until a tug came down the harbor that we- 
rcall\- beliex ed we'd won. 



"DOUGHNUT" ROBBINS'S BET 25 

"'Is the Rose L. Pitllcii in yet?' we sung out to the tug- 
boat skipper. 

" 'Xa^\^' says he. 'You're the only vessel in this day. See 
anythin' of an Eyetalian l:)ark outside?' 

'■ "Xevcr mind your bark,' yells Robbins. 'She's a hundred 
mile away from here. Take our line and git us to the dock. I 
want to git where I kin git a decent meal.' 

"And so we slides into our wdiarf — a vessel with no trip 
below but a run of two hundred and twenty-five miles in eigh- 
teen and a half hours to her credit. Some goin' for an ill-found 
craft like the Esther Siillivaii !'' 

The cook ])aused and knocked the ashes out of his pipe. 

"What happened next?" inquired Jerry Davis. 

"A\'ell, as soon as we got her tied up. Jesse Publicover 
ste])s up. 

" 'Lookvhere, skipper.' says he, 'how did you know you 
could win that bet with this old hooker. 

"lesse was never very respectful in speakin' to the skipper, 
but Tom Robbins liked him the best of the crowd. 

" 'I knew I could trim him.' he says. 'I have a good vessel 
here, but I ain't got wdiat he has got, and that's a big yellow- 
streak a yard wide. I knew he'd quit in that breeze with that 
big nosed knockabout of his scoopin' water and playin' general 
ructions 'round his decks. I'll wager he's reefed down now 
and cal'latin' that I'm sunk, dismasted, or hove-to somewheres. 
I knew that feller sence he was a kid and I knew it was goin' 
to blow hard, and as I had a light vessel what needed a lot 
of ne\v gear owin' to the dislike some of you have taken to 
what she had. I jest cal'lated I'd make Jason ("hurchill pay for 
it. And he will, for 1 cal'late I've jest about ])eeled him good. 
Yes. skinned him lo the ballast! Xow, I'm goin' ashore for 
somethin' to eat.' 



26 "DOUGHNUT" ROBBINS'S BET 

"'Do \vc git new dories?' asks Jesse. 'Xew ones, not 
second handed things.' 

"Yes,' growls Robbins. 'You'll git new dories — bran new 
ones. The vessel will be oxerhanled and fitted out with new 
sails and gear.' 

"jest as he was agoin' on to the dock, 1 had my say. 'How 
about m}' sttjve, skipper?' I says. 'Kin I order a new one?' 

"lie gives me a look that 'ud sour new^ milk. 'Yes,' says 
he in a roar ye could hear outside Ten Pound Island. 'For 
the love of Mike, git one. My stomach has bin clean ruined 
with your truck — ' 

" 'A g"ood one is what I want,' says I, an' them 
SHIPMATES are the best to be got.' 

" 'Then g"it one,' yells he, 'and by the Great Trawl Hook, 
ef }e e\er dish me u]) any more of that damned goozy pig hash 
after this, there'll be one more cook in Hell when they take 
the tally!'" 

Phinney rose from his seat on the locker and loosened his 
apron. 

"So that's the story of the Esther SiilUvan's race with the 
Rose L. Pullen, and what is more important, it is the yarn of 
how I got my .SHIPMATE stove out of the stingiest skipper 
in r,l(incester. Oh. boys, he was a hard, rough man was Tom 
Kobbins. but he loxed his grub. Holy Sailor! 'tis after eleven 
— sure I sh'd ha\c turned in an hour ago!" 

A few minutes later the long triangle of bunks were fully 
occupied, and the snores of the sleei)ing fishermen mingled 
with the crash and thunderous mutter of the seas outside, 
wdiile the gallant schooner reared and stormed over the same 
old sea path that the Esther Sullivan ploughed in the vears 
gone by. 



it^ij 3) 19t2 



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